Atop the Nemesis
by tinyrobotlover
Summary: TFP: Wherein Starscream and Megatron share a rare moment of normal conversation without threat to anyone's well being.


**No slash. Just a random, weird, not quite friendshipy moment.**

* * *

Clouds floated lazily through the evening sky, outlined by the sun's golden rays. The sky itself was an array of colors ranging from blue to purple to pink to orange. Stars were beginning to sparkle in the waning light and the earth itself seemed to sigh in contentment as it settled into a brief moment's rest.

He stood atop the warship in solitude as he had done for the past few nights, watching the sun disappear beyond the mountain peeks and hearing the faint sounds of nocturnal organics awakening from their slumber.

His wings drooped slightly as the day's stresses began to melt away from the joints in his frame. A flock of geese flew by, honking noisily. He found the sound oddly relaxing.

The sky turned red as the sun ended its decent on the horizon and just for a moment he thought he was home. He smiled lazily as his mind wandered to a time without war. A time he found himself missing in the stillness which had frequented him often as of late.

The sun was almost gone.

"Is this where you've been the last few days?" a voice asked from behind him.

He looked over his shoulder and dipped his helm to his leader. "Lord Megatron," he greeted. He found that he was much more relaxed now than he usually was around his master.

Perhaps his mind was still with the sunset, not yet fully returned to the present.

Or perhaps he felt no threat coming from the warlord. Actually, Megatron looked rather tired at the moment. He stepped to his second's side and watched the final hint of light disappear behind the mountain range, letting out a long sight as he did so.

"I cannot say I harbor any fondness for this planet, but I will admit, it does have its moments."

Starscream nodded, returning his attention to the darkening sky and open canyon landscape. The moon now glistened in the reflective surface of the lake below.

It was enchanting.

Megatron chuckled quietly, catching Starscream's attention. "Are you aware of the stupid grin on your face?"

"Are you aware of yours?" the Seeker responded, not missing a beat. He did not mean it disrespectfully and Megatron did not take it so. It fact, he seemed to then notice his own odd grin and laugh a bit more when he found he could not make it go away.

Starscream smiled.

"Do you fly when you come out here?" Megatron asked.

Starscream shook his helm. "No, master. I only take a few moments to watch the sun set before returning to my duties." He considered his statement and added, "That is, only if I have a few moments to spare in the first place."

"That is understandable," said the warlord. "Sometime one must take a moment of solitude in order to carry out a task to one's best abilities."

The Seeker watched him carefully. He was not used to Megatron being so calm, so friendly. It would have been unnerving were it not for his own disconnection from the stresses of war.

"When is the last time you took a pleasure flight, master?"

Megatron looked down at him, a slight frown befalling his face. "I do not fly for pleasure, Starscream. That is the pastime of the Seekers."

Starscream cocked his head at that. It had never occurred to him that one possessing the means of flight might not actually use it at any given opportunity. It was a foreign concept to his Vosnian mind. Grounders drove and fliers flew. That was just the way things were, right?

Megatron turned his optics back to the stars, though his attention remained mostly on the Seeker. He could sense Starscream's mind reeling and expected to be questioned soon enough.

"Is it not a pastime that can be adopted?"

Megatron smirked. "When is the last time you lobbed, Starscream?"

The Seeker was silent.

"I thought so." He turned to leave. "To each his own, my Air Commander."

"It was before the war," Starscream stated, again gaining the full attention of his master. "Thundercracker was curious. We Seekers knew only our duties and flight, yet it seemed all of Cybertron was diverse in their trades. Even minors could be gladiators, after all."

Megatron met his optics with interest. "Is that how it was perceived?"

Starscream shrugged. "We knew much and yet understood very little. It could be quite bothersome. So I contacted an associate of mine who had semi-regular interaction with those outside of his own caste. He explained to me what lobbing was and I offered the information to Thundercracker. He insisted that we try it and we did." The Seeker smiled. "Skywarp ended up with a rather large dent on his helm."

The warlord nodded slightly and moved to the edge of the warship. The cool wind blew over him and he too was transported through time within his own mind. "I was in Vos once," he started. "I wasn't supposed to be there, but I had found an error within my unit's scheduling and used it to take leave. I remember seeing the Seekers executing a training routine and wondered what it was like to have such freedom. Your kind had an entire planet to soar over while mine rotted below its surface. We were forced into arenas to participate in blood-sports so that, should we survive, we could live another day off of our winnings."

Starscream walked to his side. "What you saw as freedom for Seekers, I saw as confinement of will. And vice versa. I suppose our kinds were not so different."

A pause.

"You enjoyed lobbing, then?"

Starscream's wings perked. "When I was winning."

Megatron laughed. "Why does that not surprise me?"

"And you, master, have _never_ taken a pleasure flight?"

"Well," he shifted his weight to a more relaxed stance. "I did once or twice early on in the war, but, really, I have no time for such things. It was… nice."

Starscream's gaze wandered the forest-covered canyon below them, his wings twitching at the presence of such open and clear atmosphere. He did not especially enjoy being cooped up in a warship day after day, so moments like this were unusually exciting. He could sense Megatron's optics falling on his wings, but, for once, made no attempt to still them. He was only reacting as a fully functioning Seeker should in such a place, after all.

"Is this normal?" Megatron asked, gesturing to the SIC's wings.

Starscream nodded. "My sensors are taking in information with full focus from my processor. I've grown unaccustomed to such sensations. Movement is natural."

"Hmm…"

Starscream glanced at him. "Something wrong, master?"

"You are unusually open tonight."

Starscream shrunk a bit. "You've been inside my mind," he said quietly. "I have no more secrets to keep."

The warlord nodded. "You are decidedly more docile this way. Enjoy an hour's flight and not a minute more, Starscream."

The Seeker hesitated for only a moment before launching himself into the night sky, displaying his skills as he enjoyed his minutes of play.

Megatron watched in amusement as the Seeker rolled and flipped and dove through the sky, reaching speeds that only a Seeker could. He was acting like a ridiculous, little Sparkling. The warlord would not normally tolerate such behavior from anyone, especially not his second in command, but ever since he had traversed Starscream's innermost thoughts, he had seen a change in the flier's attitude toward him. He was more submissive and eager to please.

He knew that Starscream's old ways would surface soon enough, but he would enjoy having a loyal SIC for the moment.

He turned and strode for the door.

Starscream fell through the air and toward the lake. He transformed into bi-pedal and then back to a jet before he made contact with the water's surface, then blasted back into the sky. He circled the Nemesis in wide arcs twice in a matter of seconds.

Locking on to Megatron's position, he transformed mid-air and forcefully threw a boulder straight at Megatron's head.

Megatron spun, catching the rock with both servos and making eye contact with the smirking Seeker as he fell toward the warship. Starscream transformed once more and shot straight up into the night sky, leaving a gust of heat in his wake.

Megatron eyed the boulder with an arched optic ridge, rolling it around as he inspected its smooth, slightly wet surface. "Not a bad lob, Seeker," he mumbled.

He looked back to the sky and briefly considered joining his second in flight. Instead, he walked through the doorway to return to the command deck.

Someday, he might join.

Perhaps when the war was over.

* * *

 **The end.**


End file.
